Kelly leads me to what I can only surmise is some kind of command center. We’re still on the main floor, but the room we enter is huge. Dozens of SF members in uniforms are stationed throughout the circular area. All of them sit in front of computers with holographic screens.
In the center of the hustle, a large holographic display flashes in brilliant colors and shows various locations around the world: Barcelona flashes in red, Shanghai is green, Cape Town sparkles in gold … the list goes on.
The world display travels from floor to ceiling and is constantly changing, glimmering from city to city as beacons light up and identify individuals. I cock my head, and after a moment realize those individuals are SF squad members that the Supernatural Forces is tracking.
Wes is standing on the other side of the central holograph, visible through the impressive globe, as he talks to one of the technicians.
“Wes?” Kelly calls. “Can we speak with you?”
When Wes sees me at Kelly’s side, his eyes narrow. He says something to the technician before striding toward us. When he reaches us, he plants his hands on his hips, and his eyes train on my escort. “Kelly, what’s this? Brianna should be on her way home by now, and she shouldn’t be in here. This is no place for a human.”
Kelly wrings her hands. “I know, but something came up. Something you need to be aware of. It’s about her background, and I didn’t want to leave her.”
“Is this something that needs to be discussed in private?” he asks.
Kelly nods. “It involves her personal identifying information.”
“Then we’ll go to my office.” Wes turns on his heel, and Kelly scampers to follow, dragging me with her.
I still don’t know what kind of supernatural species Kelly is, but she’s six inches shorter than me and doesn’t have pointy ears or glowing eyes. I’m assuming she’s a witch.
Wes keeps looking over his shoulder as we leave the command center behind us. I’m guessing he wants to reassure himself that we’re following since I attempted to flee in the infirmary.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that I can’t beat the SF, so if allowing them to think I’m a female werewolf works to my advantage, then I’m all for cooperating.
We step onto an elevator and ascend to the fourth level. Since the numbers in the elevator don’t escalate beyond four, I know we step out at the top floor.
Large windows line this hallway. The beautiful Idaho hills surrounding the SF are filled with trees. The autumn landscape is even prettier this high up. Forest stretches for miles around us, and in the distance, I spot the city of Boise.
“This way.” Wes leads us down the hall to a door and places his palm on a scanner beside it.
I jump when a robotic female voice says, “Welcome, Wes McCloy.” The door clicks open.
Wes ushers us inside his office. The large room contains a huge desk and more computers and holographic screens than the command center. An entire wall is dedicated to the tracking system I saw downstairs.
I frantically search the map, looking for something about Collin. For all I know, he’s been moved and isn’t even here.
Wes catches me eyeing it and pushes a button on his desk. All of the images vanish.
Dammit.
Wes waves to the chairs surrounding a small boardroom table near the corner. We all sit.
“All right,” Wes says to Kelly. “Now that we’re guaranteed privacy, do you care to explain what the hell is going on?”
Kelly pulls at her shirt collar. “I’m sorry. I probably should have approached you first, but it took all of us by surprise.” She grabs her tablet, which she’d secured to a clip on her waist. “Brianna, can you hold your wrist out?”
I readily comply and hope that the same symbol appears. If it doesn’t, I have no doubt I’ll be granted a one-way ticket to memory-scramble-land courtesy of SF airlines.
Kelly positions the tablet above my wrist, and those weird lasers erupt again. She swathes it over me, and the same glowing symbol appears before it vanishes.
Phew.
Wes’s lips part. “Do that again.”
She does it a second time, and again, the same symbol appears.
“She’s a female werewolf,” Kelly says and secures the tablet to her waist again. “Only, she doesn’t know it.”
Wes stands, his eyebrows knitting together. He paces a few steps before turning back to us. He looks down at me and cocks his head. “Were you